2 Shiv Sena leaders shot dead after civic bypoll results, NCP MLA and 3 more arrested

Ahmednagar: Two Shiv Sena leaders – Sanjay Kotkar (35) and Vasant Anand Thube (40) – were allegedly – shot dead in Maharastra’s Ahmednagar on Saturday, hours after the result of a civic bypoll in the area was announced. The police arrested Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Sangram Jagtap, a suspected shooter, and two more persons in connection with the killings.
Motorcycle-borne assailants shot dead Kotkar and Thube in Shahunagar area of Ahmednagar’s Kedgaon on Saturday evening, at around 5:15 pm. Earlier in the day, Vishal Kotkar of the Congress beat Sena’s Vijay Pathare by a thin margin of 454 votes.
“We have arrested NCP MLA Sangram Jagtap (33), Balasaheb Kotkar (59), Sandeep Gunjal (28), and Bhanudas Kotkar (44) for the murder of two local Sena leaders,” an officer told news agency PTI.
Two more MLAs – NCP’s Arun Jagtap and BJP’s Shivaji Kardile, have also been booked in connection with the killings.
All the four accused were produced before local court, which sent them to police custody till April 12.
Earlier, Gunjal surrendered himself in Parner police station along with the weapon allegedly used in the crime. He told the police that the crime was committed out of old rivalry and there is no political link to the killings.
Police have booked the MLA on the charge of hatching a criminal conspiracy.
Meanwhile, supporters of Jagtap allegedly vandalised the office of Ahmednagar superintendent of police after he was held in connection with the killings.
Bhingar Camp police arrested at least 22 people for ransacking the SP’s office while 31 others are on the run, said a local police official.
“When MLA Jagtap was brought to the SP office, his supporters ransacked the window panes of the office and carried their leader on their shoulders while shouting slogans,” he said.